Qin Yexuan caught up with the angry Fo Lian.
"Hmph, I don't want to talk to you," Fo Lian said, her face set.
Qin Yexuan looked at the sky. "I'm hungry."
Fo Lian was speechless, still looking angry, but then she led him to a nearby fried chicken restaurant.
Qin Yexuan voraciously ate two large plates of Puyang fried chicken and drank over ten bottles of clear liquor.
Fo Lian only ate a small meat patty and half a bowl of soybean paste soup.
There weren't many people at the fried chicken restaurant at this hour. The owner kept staring at the latest news about "spiritual energy treasure spots" and repeatedly called his wife. "Honey, I used to work in that place, I know it too well. Oh, darling, we can't just stick to this small shop anymore. Why do those jerks get to dig up treasures every day? Let's go together, please!"
This was the current situation in the Gaoli continent... and even around the world.
The common people at the bottom were no longer focused on normal life. They were all thinking about digging up spiritual power treasures. If they were lucky, they might even obtain spiritual energy inheritance and become true cultivators.
So, before Qin Yexuan finished his meal, the owner threw the keys to the waitress. "Enxi, watch the shop for three days. If I'm not back after three days, just close it temporarily!"
The girl, who was sitting on an empty chair painting her toenails, pouted and rolled her eyes. "Uncle, I'm quitting tonight. You better settle my wages. I'm going with the brothers to become treasure hunters!"
The owner smiled bitterly. "Then lock up when you leave. I can't settle your wages yet. Take whatever you like from this shop."
The owner left just like that. The chef rushed out, snatched the keys, and said with a sinister grin, holding a cigarette, "Enxi, the freezer, TV, computer, phone, and juicer... they all belong to me!"
The girl cursed, threw down her nail polish, took off her uniform, and changed into a stylish suit. Then, she made a phone call, and over a dozen thugs on delivery motorcycles stormed in. They cornered the chef and beat him up until he was kneeling and begging.
"Brothers, everything belongs to us, take as much as you can!"
After a cheer, the chef, covered in blood, was thrown out of the fried chicken restaurant.
Qin Yexuan ate the last piece of fried chicken, and while he was still wiping his mouth, Fo Lian dragged him out.
"Didn't pay?"
"What's there to pay..."
Fo Lian looked at the chaotic fried chicken restaurant. "This world has really changed. No police have shown up yet."
Police?
They had long lost their credibility and their ability to protect the good and punish the bad.
Now, the ones who maintained order were private mercenaries and spiritual power cultivators.
After the girl and the group of boys left carrying various items, only tables, chairs, and garbage remained in the fried chicken restaurant.
Qin Yexuan and Fo Lian sat in the pavilion behind the shop, drinking the remaining fresh fruit juice, both feeling exhausted.
Fo Lian slowly opened the electronic map and zoomed in, frowning. "What use do you have for this?"
"The red area in the middle is Longchuan Base!"
Fo Lian nodded. "Everyone knows that. It's the headquarters of the American military base stationed in Gaoli."
"The American forces stationed in Gaoli mainly consist of the 7th Brigade of the Ground Lions Division, the Marine Corps, the 3rd Airborne Division, and so on... but a long time ago, all these organizations withdrew from Longchuan Base..."
Fo Lian raised an eyebrow. "So who is stationed there now?"
"It's a recently formed American spiritual power tactical team. The information is absolutely classified, and it's very difficult to obtain detailed intelligence. But I know this spiritual power team is full of monsters, with an average cultivation of intermediate ability users, at least seventy people. They also have a spiritual power laboratory consisting of three hundred people!"
Fo Lian rubbed her head. "A laboratory, and an ability user team with an average combat power reaching intermediate level. What are they up to?"
Qin Yexuan smiled. "There is a person imprisoned in Longchuan Base, and a treasure is hidden there!"
"Damn, who is that person and what treasure is it?"
"Fo Lian, don't rush. I wasn't planning to hide it from you. The person secretly imprisoned is Jin Gaoyue, the heir of Gaoli Dao and the representative director, the actual controller, of the Jinshi conglomerate."
"As for the treasure..." Qin Yexuan waved his hand. "You'll see it directly then. Explaining it is impossible."
Fo Lian's eyes widened. "For the past six months, you've been sickly, lying in the cave half-dead every day. Where did you get all this information?"
Qin Yexuan looked somewhat unfathomably mysterious.
He said in a deep voice, "The head of the National Intelligence Agency's Divine Cult Group on the Gaoli continent, Minister Zhao Xianren, is the one who used the alias Doctor Zhao to monitor Teacher Wang Jiaqian in Zhaoge. After the upheaval in Zhaoge, he was doomed. I arranged for him to be placed with Jin Gaoyue."
"Later, Zhao Xianren became Jin Gaoyue's subordinate. After the spiritual energy revival, Jin Gaoyue suddenly disappeared. Zhao Xianren took the opportunity to return to the intelligence agency and resumed his old business. All the intelligence was transmitted by him at the risk of his life."
Fo Lian was immensely shocked. "For the past six months, you weren't recuperating, but observing the outside world the entire time?"
Qin Yexuan's expression turned serious. "Of course, I've always cared about world affairs. Besides, do you think I would hide and do nothing?"
He snapped his fingers. "Come out, meet an old friend."
A snow-white, beautifully furred lion cat wearing an expensive collar appeared from above and gracefully jumped onto the lounge chair. "Boss, I need to go back soon. Just give me your orders."
Fo Lian suddenly understood.
On the way out of Zhaoge six months ago, the lion cat had disappeared. Qin Yexuan had never mentioned it, but he hadn't expected it to become Qin Yexuan's informant, and his eyes and ears.
"The cat has been working for me all along. Now its identity changes constantly, sometimes it's Zhao Xianren's pet, sometimes it's a stray cat in a certain building..." Qin Yexuan said calmly. "It's much more useful than you."
Fo Lian became enraged and stood up. "Then take this damned cat to Seoul. I'm perfectly content on my own."
The lion cat meowed strangely. "Why is Fo Lian's temper getting worse and worse? She used to be cunning and patient, the mastermind behind Dongling Temple. Now she just looks like an emotional little girl."
Fo Lian froze and turned away, remaining silent.
Qin Yexuan, however, understood. After the spiritual energy revival, Fo Lian's cultivation had been stuck at the advanced level and had not broken through to expert. Coupled with the fact that all her power had vanished, she had become agitated and somewhat insecure.
In the new world of spiritual energy revival, there were countless powerful individuals. Fo Lian no longer had the superiority of a cultivator. Not only had her personality changed drastically, but she was also completely different now.
"Cat, go to Zhao Xianren first and tell him I've arrived in Seoul. Then go to the headquarters building of the Jinshi conglomerate and await my next instructions."
The cat quietly disappeared, leaving only a wisp of white mist.
This was the transposition technique of expert-level cultivation.
Fo Lian turned around, her expression complex. "Even this silly lion monster's cultivation has reached expert level."
Qin Yexuan rubbed his stomach and stood up. "Let's go, we're heading to Seoul!"